WATCHET'S annual wheelbarrow challenge raised a bumper £600 for the town's forthcoming carnival weekend and also forged new friendships with neighbouring Barry on the South Wales coast. Deputy mayor of the Welsh resort, Shaun Barnsley, took second prize in an event that tests competitors' drinking capacity and fitness in a race around the town's pubs. Shaun and his partner Mark Hunt had been persuaded to take part in the event - in which teams of two have to stop at each pub, drink half a pint of beer, lager or cider, swap over their 'pushing' and 'riding' responsibilities and carry on until they finish the course - after 'shipping up' in Watchet for the bank holiday weekend aboard the fishing boat Cyclone. Flushed with their success and impressed by the entertainment and activities on offer in the town last Sunday, they invited a party of Watchet people to visit Barry to discuss possible new links. "They're going to come over for the carnival weekend in July and who knows what might develop in the future,"said Mark Bale, chairman of the Watchet Carnival Club. "The race was a great success, absolutely brilliant and the streets were lined with at least 400 people watching it." First place went to last year's winners, Dog Gone, alias Kevin Prescott and Barry Jones, with a team from another visiting fishing boat, the Lady Caroline and Ashley Boy, coming in third. The winners' time of ten minutes was slower than their previous eight-minute record but was due to tough new regulations imposed by the organisers. "We insisted that each half pint had to be drunk and not worn," said Mark . "In past years the competitors have poured more alcohol over themselves than they've actually drunk." The title of the fastest ladies team went to Roadrunners - Anna Patton and Stacey Willicombe - while the best fancy dress award was won by Nigel 'Murphy' Eastwood and Laurie Cornelius as 'the only gay in the village' and 'I'm a lady' characters from the popular comedy programme Little Britain. A total of 18 teams took part in the race, with at least half entering into the spirit of the challenge by turning out in fancy dress. "It was a great day and having some street theatre and kids entertainment really added to the success."
